The Fourth Raikage, Ai.
Not long ago, the Third Raikage, also named Ai, recognized his son's exceptional abilities, deeming him ready to become the Fourth Raikage. Following Kumogakure's tradition of choosing a brother for the Raikage, he stepped down, passing the title to his son.
To solidify his son's reputation and earn the village's respect, he seized the opportunity of Sunagakure's leaderless state to wage war against them!
War…
It was always a time for heroes to rise.
If not now, when?!
At this moment, Ai frowned at the map on the table. Though his father had directly appointed him as the Fourth Raikage, it was also because his skills and strength had reached that level!
Otherwise, no matter how brash his father was, the village's shinobi wouldn't have accepted him.
"Yo, yo, check it out!"
Hearing the familiar noise, Ai turned, head throbbing, to see his brother—the one his father had chosen for him, and whom he'd also selected…
A brother who, despite being tone-deaf and utterly lacking musical talent, was obsessed with music.
"Kirabi, can you quiet down a bit?" Ai rubbed his forehead, exasperated. "Or go sing somewhere else. I'm thinking here!"
Though he didn't think he needed protection—and felt he, as the elder brother, should protect Kirabi—his brother saw it differently.
The Raikage's brother, inheriting the name "Bi," was tasked with maximizing the Raikage's potential while serving as their guard. That was the duty of "Bi."
So, Kirabi insisted on sticking by the Raikage's side?!
"I guess I'll have to get used to this noise eventually."
Ai gave a wry smile, watching Kirabi, unfazed by his words, launch into an impromptu performance.
"Or, how about you help me figure out what Kumogakure should do next?"
"Yo, yo, yo, big bro wants me to plan!"
Kirabi kept rapping and dancing, hands making odd gestures, stretching and retracting.
"But Kirabi's got no clue, big bro, don't make it tough, yo, yo, you handle it!"
"…"
I want to punch my brother!
Ai's eyebrow twitched, frowning at the still-rapping Kirabi.
"Quiet down!"
"Yo, yo, big bro wants silence, Kirabi's just…"
"Shut up!"
"Fine~"
Seeing his genuinely angry brother, Kirabi stopped, sidling over to look at… a yellow map.
The Land of Wind was mostly desert, with a few green fields sustaining its people. This map was useless!
You'd still get lost.
"Big bro, you're too tense. Want me to sing you a song?"
"Get lost!"
Trying to stress me out more?
Ai's face darkened, about to tell the grinning Kirabi to scram, when…
"Report, Lord Raikage!"
A Kumogakure shinobi rushed in.
"What is it?"
Ai frowned at the ninja kneeling before him.
"According to our scouts, the Sand shinobi are, for some reason…"
"For what?"
"Playing with sand!"
"???"
…
A bit earlier.
After Lord Rasa ordered the army to start digging sand, the Sand shinobi followed the future Fourth Kazekage's command. Every morning, they joined the main force to excavate.
"This is the gold dust Lord Rasa refined. You need to extract pure gold from it!" a Sand shinobi said, hauling a batch of gold dust Rasa had just processed with ninjutsu, addressing the bewildered ninja. "Lord Rasa's working hard mining gold for Sunagakure's future. You must refine it carefully!"
"But… the war?" a shinobi asked cautiously. "We're still fighting Kumogakure. Is mining gold here really okay?"
"Hmph, with your bodies…" the overseer scoffed. "You can't fight anyway. Just mine gold honestly! The village is broke and depends on this to survive."
"…"
That… makes sense!
The injured and weary Sand shinobi paused, nodding.
But…
Why did it feel so wrong?
They glanced at their bandaged right hands, left legs, or even fully wrapped bodies.
They truly… couldn't fight!
But was mining gold really okay?
"What's wrong with it? Tell me!" the overseer chuckled. "What, you want to lie in bed instead of contributing? Please, even the landlord's out of grain!"
As Lord Rasa said, it was all to protect the village!
"So, follow orders and meet your daily quotas!"
"Yes! Understood!"
The Sand shinobi shouted firmly.
Meanwhile, elsewhere…
"Big brother Rasa, isn't this bad?" Yashamaru, also bandaged, hesitated, watching Rasa gather another pile of gold dust with chakra. "We're still at war!"
"Yeah, we're at war!" Rasa looked surprised at Yashamaru's sudden comment. "What's wrong?"
He hadn't pulled combat-ready ninja for this. What was the issue?
"But…" Yashamaru mumbled, glancing at the shinobi hauling Rasa's gold dust. "Everyone's still injured!"
"So what? Are injured ninja no longer ninja? Do they not contribute to the village?" Rasa said earnestly, looking at the ashamed Yashamaru.
"Kid, that thinking won't do! The First Kazekage begged the Shinobi God for funds and land to build Sunagakure. This is a desert… If you slack off just because you're injured, how will the village grow?"
He patted Yashamaru, whose face flushed red as he bowed his head.
"Kid, this is for Sunagakure's future! Hard work is our village's virtue. How can you think of resting just because you're injured?"
"I didn't, I'm not, I'm not like that!" Yashamaru stiffened, shouting. "I just… since you're to be the Fourth Kazekage, doing this…"
"So what if it's the Kazekage? Can't the Kazekage mine gold for the village? Can't they work hard?" Rasa sighed, shaking his head wistfully. "Your mindset's lacking, comrade! Come on… I'll set you straight today!"
"???"
"Go lead a team, refine that gold properly! Work hard with the others and toughen up!"
Man, is mining some gold that hard?
(End of Chapter)